As excitement builds for the upcoming film, The Beautiful Game, which chronicles the groundbreaking career of Clyde Best, a persistent question remains in his native Bermuda: why has the man who changed the trajectory of global football yet to receive his country's highest order of merit?
Clyde Best is globally recognised as one of the first black players to compete in the First Division of English football. As a powerful striker for West Ham United between 1968 and 1976, Best scored 47 goals and established himself as a fan favourite at Upton Park despite facing persistent racist chanting from the terraces. His strength, skill, and toughness embodied the traditional English centre-forward role, making him difficult to dispossess and formidable in the air.
Best's impact transcended sport, pioneering a path for generations of black footballers in England and around the world.
Bermuda honored the first Olympic Gold Medal winner with the highest Order of Merritt for a Female, but the Bermudian who made an impact on the World is still not fully respected in his own country that he walks today!
Best was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in January 2006. However, for many years, fans, politicians, and the public have questioned why he has not been elevated to a Knighthood, the highest honour available to a Bermudian through the British honours system.
Bermudians are regularly nominated for a range of honours awarded by The King, including MBEs, OBEs, CBEs, The Order of Merit, and The Order of St Michael and St George. Despite this annual nomination process and almost two decades having passed since his MBE was announced, the question remains unanswered.
The lack of explanation as to "why not" lies within a specific government room in Bermuda, and successive governments have failed to provide a clear answer to the people. The anticipation for his film, The Beautiful Game, now serves as a potent reminder that while the world celebrates his legacy, his home country continues to face a difficult question regarding his formal recognition.
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Bermuda Football Association (BFA) Official Statement
IslandStats.com
The Bermuda Football Association (BFA) is outraged by the incident that took place at Southampton Rangers Sports Club during the scheduled match between Devonshire Colts and Paget Lions.
The actions of the individuals who stormed the field armed with weapons were reckless, dangerous, and completely unacceptable in any setting—let alone at a community sporting event.
Let us be absolutely clear: This type of activity has no place in football, no place in our clubs, and no place in Bermuda.
What occurred yesterday is not just a “football problem.” It is a Bermuda problem—one that we are seeing in too many of our public spaces, whether at Cup Match, Harbour Nights, our restaurants, school events, community gatherings, or neighbourhood functions. What happened yesterday is a stark reminder that we all share in the responsibility of protecting these spaces.
The BFA condemns the attackers’ actions and will fully support law enforcement as they identify and hold accountable those responsible. We also commend the quick response of match officials, club staff, and the Bermuda Police Service, whose actions prevented what could have been a far more serious situation.
The BFA will not tolerate behaviour that threatens the safety of players, officials, or spectators. We are immediately reviewing our security protocols and will work closely with clubs, venues, and law enforcement partners to strengthen protections around all BFA-sanctioned football events.
But safeguarding Bermuda’s community spaces cannot fall on one organization alone.
We are calling on the entire Bermuda public to stand with us in strongly rejecting and condemning this behaviour wherever it appears. This includes parents, supporters, community leaders, and every individual who wants to see our island remain a safe place.
Violence is not who we are as Bermudians, and we must not allow the actions of a few to overshadow the positive contributions of our clubs, our youth, and the football community at large.
The BFA remains committed to the integrity of the sport and to fostering a safe, respectful, and unified environment for everyone who loves football.
Friday, November 21, 2025
Parfitt Talks as Bermuda’s Top Scorer in World Cup Qualifiers
IslandStats.com
Bermuda international Djair Parfitt has spoken of the immense personal pride and honour of finishing as the team's leading goalscorer during their 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, highlighting the achievement as a major milestone in his career.
Parfitt's goals helped Bermuda navigate the challenging Concacaf qualifiers, which saw the team progress to the final round—the furthest they have ever advanced in the competition.
Speaking after the conclusion of the campaign, Parfitt reflected on the significance of his scoring record saying, "This accomplishment gives me a lot of pride and a lot of honour. I feel grateful to have achieved this with my National Team. Doing it with your National Team is a bit more special."
The forward emphasised that achieving this feat at the highest international level, particularly during such a historic run for the squad, makes the accomplishment stand out.
"To do it at this level as well, us making it to the furthest we've been in the World Cup Qualifiers to make it to the final round, and to achieve this is a very big moment in my career. Yeah, I feel very grateful about this."
Parfitt's goals throughout the qualifiers proved crucial in generating a competitive platform for the team, whose journey ended with a determined performance in the final round of matches. His contribution solidifies his status as a key attacking threat for Bermuda moving forward.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
LA28 Unveils Paralympic Schedule Preview
IslandStats.com
The Organising Committee of the 2028 Paralympics released a preliminary proposal recently, coinciding with the 1,000-day countdown to the start of the event, which includes 23 sports across 260 events in what will be the first time the Games are held in the city.
The countdown to the Paralympic Games has begun, with the opening ceremony scheduled for August 15th 2028 at the SoFi Stadium, followed by the closing ceremony on August 27th at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Between those dates, the Games will take place with more sports and medals than ever before, according to organisers who expect to distribute all competitions across 294 sessions with the aim of ensuring greater broadcast coverage and attracting a larger following than in any other Olympic cycle.
"The first Paralympic Games in Los Angeles mean so much to all of us, and our teams have set themselves the task of creating a competition schedule guided by and geared towards the needs of the athletes," Ileana Rodríguez, of Paralympic strategy and relations, told Reuters news agency.
"These Games are designed with both the athletes and the global audience in mind, as we collectively count down the days to an unforgettable experience," she added. The Los Angeles Paralympic Games will be special for many reasons, but the city's Mayor, Karen Bass, highlighted another: next year will see a record number of female athletes competing on the world stage.
Several changes were noted in the announcement of the preliminary schedule compared with Paris 2024. The first five sports in which Paralympic champions will be crowned on the opening day of LA28 are para athletics, wheelchair fencing, para shooting, para equestrianism and para track cycling.
On August 24th in Long Beach, para climbing will make its debut in Los Angeles, the fifth new addition in just 12 years. Some disciplines, such as wheelchair rugby and boccia, will already have begun their competitions before the opening ceremony. This is unprecedented at a Paralympic Games, and will be particularly notable given that Los Angeles is hosting the Paralympics for the first time despite having twice hosted the Olympics.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Findlay Reflects on Bermuda's Final World Cup Qualifier
IslandStats.com
Bermuda Head Coach Findlay has spoken to www.islandstats.com following the conclusion of the island's 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, expressing pride in his team's character and highlighting the progress made against strong international competition.
In an interview after the final match against Trinidad and Tobago, which ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat, Findlay was "extremely pleased" with the overall performance and the way the team addressed their pre-tournament objectives.
The coach acknowledged the technical difficulties with the score during the final match, calling the situation "very frustrating for the players, the staff, and the BFA." However, he quickly focused on the successful outcome of the camp's short-term goal.
"Our goal and objective when we came into the final camp in November was to put points on the board, to get a result or two results," he stated.
Despite starting the cycle with an "unfortunate situation and result against Curacao"—a nation that directly qualified for the World Cup—Findlay saw a significant upturn in character.
"I think it was a character builder for us... I think it was incredibly not just pleasing but exciting to see how we rebounded, how we applied ourself to the game in some difficult situations."
Findlay confirmed that despite the challenging conditions and humidity, the players acted accordingly, leading to a tangible reward: "We come away with a result and we can put a point on the board in World Cup qualifying." This single point was secured in the 1-1 draw against Jamaica earlier in the campaign.
He stressed that while the team didn't get all the results they were looking for, the journey was about long-term development.
"This was going to be a long-term objective for this group," Findlay confirmed, adding that the team can now proudly say they scored goals in World Cup qualifying and their name sits next to a number of teams still possibly going to the 2026 World Cup.
The coach also highlighted the successful international debuts of several young players, seeing them as a sign of progress.
"Incredibly happy for Milai Perott making his debut, Jace Donawa making his debut, Logan Jiménez in the previous game making his debut," he said. "This is a sign of things to come."
Findlay concluded with an optimistic look toward the next competitive cycle: "Now we look forward to 2026 and preparing for a Gold Cup qualification in Nations League... The future looks bright and I’m happy that we gained the point here in Trinidad and Tobago."
